Leadership Academy graduates reveal innovative projects

The Dubois County Leadership Academy graduated its second class on Wednesday night during a ceremony held at Kimball International Headquarters.

The Dubois County Leadership Academy was formed to organically produce and train better leaders. The Academy are focuses on providing education, training and hands-on development in areas of essential leadership skills, government and public service, creative problem solving, religious and civic service. The students receive instruction from various industries and leaders. This year the academy even heard a presentation from the organizers of Superbowl XLVI.

Academy Chairperson Tonya Brothers-Bridge stated the Academy creates an atmosphere that allows the students ask questions that may not get asked in a workplace or business atmosphere. This allows for a more relaxed atmosphere to allow students to make mistakes constructively.

Ferdinand Town Manager Marc Steczyk announced at the graduation ceremony that due to support from businesses and individuals in the community the Academy will be designated a 501.c3 non-profit organization in the coming months. The Leadership Academy has been a collaborative effort between government leaders in Ferdinand, Huntingburg, and Jasper, as well as with Ferdinand and Jasper’s HomeTown Competitiveness initiatives, VUJC, and the Huntingburg Community Foundation.

This is the second year the academy and Fourteen Dubois County residents took part. The fourteen were split into three teams with goal of creating a capstone project for the betterment of Dubois County. The projects are almost complete and will become available in the coming months.

Leadership Academy GROW — The GROW team: Nick Hostetter, Owner Azura Grill & Café, Ashley Kiefer, City of Jasper, Karen Adams, Vincennes University – Jasper Campus, Kelley Schipp, Ferdinand Farmers Insurance, and Jeremy Deffendoll, Inwood Office Invironments

The Gardening Rewards Our Work (GROW) team created a pamphlet to teach people how to build container gardens. The team made the pamphlet bilingual and designed it to help people save money by inspiring residents to create their own container gardens to replace some of the items they currently buy in a grocery store.

Trail of Faith team members: Jennifer Thacker, Freedom Bank, Erin Hilsmeyer, Kimball International, Inc., Josh Morrison, German American, and Angie Valuch, Vincennes University – Jasper Campus

The Trail of Faith team created a pamphlet with descriptions of 19 historic churches in Dubois County and the surrounding areas. The goal of the project was to create a lasting legacy that will showcase these churches and promote our community as a whole. Besides churches the map trail also showcases important religious sites. The Dubois County Tourism office will be promoting the pamphlet once it is completed.

Leadership academy App group — Experience Dubois County Team: Stacy Kitchin, Tell City – Troy Township School Corporation, Cory Schnieders, Seufert Construction, Joey Clark, Kimball Office, Alex Hohl, City of Huntingburg, and Rachel Steckler, Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center

The Experience Dubois County team created an App to be used as a centralized location for information about all Dubois County has to offer. Created with the help of students involved in Project Lead the Way, the app contains information on restaurants, hotels, recreation, events and news for Dubois County. The Experience Dubois County app is in the approval process at the Apple Store and should be available soon. This project will be continued by Dubois County Tourism as well.

Kimball International President and CEO Jim Thyen was the keynote speaker at the graduation.